Hackers
by TehMarishal
Summary: Life after both Daemon and the return of Megabyte was just starting to be peaceful for the system of Mainframe when the Prime Guardian Turbo comes knocking with news that would effect the destiny of the entire net. Users have entered the net! What could this mean for our heroes and why can they never get a moment's rest? Co-written by Wolfie's Productions.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: This fanfic is co-authored by Wolfie's Productions. :)

"How are the programmers doing with the issue?" A tall tanned skinned man asked as he interlocked his fingers while looking across the desk at the man sitting in the chair.

"You have all the up to date information on that. They are trying to find out what is going wrong and why only some of the players are being effected as fast as they can. They just don't have the skills to go any faster." The other replied as he leaned forward.

"We are a big gaming company, why don't we have the best of the best programmers?!" The first man demanded of the paler skinned one.

"You know Marissa Stone was our best, you're just too used to her abilities, even after all this time, Mr. Bradley." The second man gave a small smile at his boss who sat behind the desk.

There was a sigh. "I know. It was a tragic accident and hopefully we can find a way to fix this whole mess we're in. You are dismissed Ivan. Keep me informed."

"Yes, sir." The chair creaked a bit as Ivan pushed himself to his feet. He cast his boss a meaningful glance, then turned and headed for the door.

Mr. Bradley watched as the other man left. Once the door shut behind Ivan, Mr. Bradley took off his glasses and rubbed his temples wearily. It had already been a long day and things were only getting worse.

"How many more people must we lose before we contain the problem?" he murmured to himself. Expert therapists often said that talking to oneself was a sign of mental collapse, but if this kept up… it might result in him losing whatever marbles he had left. He was already losing his hair, something that his already thinning scalp did not need.

The intercom beeped. A sound escaped his mouth as he tapped the button to answer it, somewhere between a sigh and a soft groan. "Yes, Ms. Johnson?"

"Sir," the alluring voice of Jill Johnson said over the speaker, "a package just arrived, and it looks like a big one."

"Ah. Thank you, Ms. Johnson, I'll be there in a few minutes." Bradley switched off the intercom and checked his watch. He had instructed his secretary to inform him if a package was dropped off; she was trusted to make sure he knew right away when it was arrived. If it was what he hoped it was, he would be able to hook up a new component to the gaming system today; an upgraded prototype to make the gaming experience more real than ever.

Hopefully, this time, they could prevent any further malfunctions or mishaps.

Perhaps this time they could prevent any further malfunctions or mishaps. Hopefully they could repair the damage already caused, that was the top priority.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0

"GAME OVER," the System Voice announced throughout Mainframe's City, "GAME OVER." The purple Game Cube withdrew from the sector it had engulfed and ascended into the sky, vanishing into the same black hole it came out of. Once the energy cube had vanished, the hole disappeared and the sky changed from dark purple to its normal blue.

Whenever a Game came into the System, there was always a sense of apprehension for the inhabitants… even if most of them weren't caught in the Game. But they always wondered the same thing; would the City's defenders be able to win this one? Or would the User win, thus nullifying the Sector and everyone within it?

Matrix, AndrAIa and Bob were true professionals when it came to Games. They had won so many Games that there was barely any doubt that they could lose if any of them were within it, especially if all three were in it. Nevertheless, there were some individuals who got jittery, particularly if their home or property happened to be inside the Game… or if Mike the TV was bored and stirring everybody up about what might or might not be happening inside.

Either way, this Game had been won… but Matrix seemed a bit aggravated.

AndrAIa was the first to notice. "Is something wrong, Lover?" she asked him, placing a gentle hand on his arm.

Matrix grunted. "I just can't believe I did something so stupid," he admitted darkly. "I went the wrong way and…" He turned away, scuffing the ground with his boot. "I almost cost us the Game."

"Enzo." Bob walked up behind his friend and placed a consoling hand on his shoulder. "Look, you couldn't help the way the Game formatted you after you Rebooted. It wasn't your fault."

"But I nearly destroyed all of us." Matrix hung his head.

"Matrix, the Game turned you into a character who turned into a big, green Hulk whenever you got angry," AndrAIa told him. "If you hadn't been there when the Game Sprites started firing missiles at us, we would have been goners."

"But after that I smashed the support beams that were holding up that building, and I brought it down on top of us." Matrix sighed, and cast a look of regret toward Bob. "You almost didn't make it out in time."

"But I did," Bob told him. "That's all that matters, Enzo. I know you didn't do it on purpose."

"Besides…" AndrAIa positioned herself in front of Matrix, placing a hand on his cheek. "You looked great in those big muscles."

Matrix snorted, though a hint of amusement crept into his face. "What, am I not big and brawn enough for you now?" he teased sarcastically.

AndrAIa smirked. "You're perfect just the way you are." She kissed him. "But the Games can do wonders, too."

"Yeah. Well." He pulled her close. "I liked the time you wore a swimsuit in that one Game…"

"The swimming competition?" AndrAIa chuckled, as they shared a memory that only the two of them could share. "I think you won that Game when one of the Game Sprites kept staring at me." She stroked his cheek. "You were so jealous…"

Bob cleared his throat and coughed behind them; they had almost forgotten he was there. At times the couple could lose themselves in their memories, especially when they thought back to the hours they spent lost in the Games. There were probably a lot of things that happened which Bob could only guess at, some of which he was certain he did not want to know.

"Hey, ah, I'm gonna head over to the Diner to get an energy shake," Bob said, gesturing in the direction of the restaurant. "Are you guys coming?" If they wanted to get really mushy, like it seemed they were about to… they could do it when he wasn't around.

"Yeah, sure," Matrix said as he and AndrAIa parted. "Sounds good to me," AndrAIa added.

With that, the three of them threw out their Zip Boards and proceeded toward the Diner.

The three of them had just reached the Diner and stepped off of their Zip Boards when a VidWindow appeared. Dot's features filled the screen; she was wearing her glasses, which meant she was working hard at the Principle Office.

"Bob," Dot said, "where are you?"

"I'm at the Diner," Bob replied. "What's up?" Off to the side, Matrix and AndrAIa glanced curiously at the conversation.

"Well," Dot removed her spectacles and looked directly at Bob, "Turbo just arrived in Mainframe and he's at the Principle Office."

"Turbo?" Matrix exclaimed, blinking. That was enough to grab his attention. "What's he doing here?"

"I don't know, Big Brother," Dot said. She couldn't see him from where he stood, but she could hear his voice. "But he wants to meet with this System's leaders and defenders, including myself, Phong, and Bob."

"I'm going too," Matrix spoke up. He glanced at AndrAIa, who nodded.

"We'll be there soon," Bob told Dot, seeing no reason why his friends couldn't come to the meeting. "Any idea what this is about?"

"Not yet," Dot answered, "but I think we're going to find out soon."

"Alright. See you in a few nanos," Bob said, and then the VidWindow winked out.

"Come on," Matrix said, already on his Zip Board. "Let's see what this is all about."

0o0o0o0o0o0

As Bob, Matrix and AndrAIa entered the meeting room of the Principal Office where the others waited for them, they noticed that no one was speaking as Turbo and a younger Guardian stood off to the side while Dot sat behind the desk with Phong hovering nearby.

As Dot noticed the trio entering, she stood and greeted them.

"Thanks for coming so quickly."

"No problem," Bob said. "What's going on?" The question was addressed more towards the older Guardian as the he too stepped forward and greeted them.

"Bob, Matrix, AndrAIa, thank you for coming. I want to wait for everyone to join us before addressing the issue at hand." Matrix looked at AndrAIa with a raised brow while AndrAIa merely shrugged at the brisk tone of the Prime Guardian.

Bob nodded and stood near Dot with the others facing the two visiting Guardians.

"Turbo, who's the sprite with the organizer?" Matrix asked with a nod of his head towards the younger Guardian. As was habit, the renegade memorized the appearance for future reference, in case he had to find the sprite again.

The new addition had short purple hair with a pale cream color skin tone. His eyes were hidden by a wrap-around dark tinted glasses and he wore the basic Guardian uniform. Even as everyone in the room focused on him, he never looked up from his work.

"This is one of our tech Guardians, Data. Don't mind him, he's working on part of the reason for this meeting." Turbo said with a dismissive wave of his hand, which actually made everyone more curious about what was going on.

Just before the silence grew to be considered awkward, the doors opened once more to reveal Ray the Surfer (with accompanying board of course) and Mouse.

"Sorry we're late Sugah. Someone lost track of time as we were just about to leave." Mouse gave a playful glare at Ray who held up his hands in surrender while he smirked back.

"So, what did we miss?" The Surfer turned to their friends who assured the pair that nothing had been discussed as of yet while Data stepped up to stand behind Turbo, who was looking at the Mainframers.

As the younger Guardian whispered in the elder's ear, the Prime Guardian's face grew concerned and thoughtful. He whispered a 'thank you' to the tech before stepping forward, gaining the attention of everyone else in the room.

"Now that everyone is here, I should tell you why we're here. The Guardian Collective have discovered a User in your midst." At this everyone grew shocked and few gasped at the meaning of that sentence. Before anyone could say a word however, Turbo turned to the orange haired hacker.

"Do you mind explaining how you got into the Net, User?"


	2. Chapter 2

For a long moment there was only silence as the meaning of Turbo's words were absorbed into everyone's processors.

Bob was staring openly at Mouse. His jaw had dropped so low it seemed that it might fall off of his face. Never had the Guardian been rendered so completely speechless. Behind him, Phong's eyelids flickered several times; the old program seemed just as surprised as everyone else, but for the moment he said nothing. He simply hung back, watched, and listened.

Dot was the first to speak up. "Mouse? A User?" The green-skinned woman shook her head in disbelief. "That's just not possible! We would have noticed something in all the scans we've run in the past."

"I'm afraid it's very possible, Miss Matrix," Turbo told her. "My assistant here," he indicated the younger Guardian, "has been running continuous scans since we entered Mainframe. We've found a way to detect Users who appear in our midst."

Ray stared at Turbo for a long moment, then he looked at Mouse, eyeing her with a critical eye. The Surfer used his free hand-the one that wasn't currently holding his Board-to scratch the back of his head. "I don't believe it," he finally said.

"I don't believe it either," Matrix spoke up, shaking his head in disbelief. "This doesn't make any sense!"

"We've known Mouse a long time," AndrAIa chimed in. "I think we would have noticed it by now if there was something… different about her."

"Not necessarily," Turbo spoke up. "When a User enters the Net, they become Sprite-like."

"Almost to the point of being undistinguishable from other forms of Sprites," the Guardian tech put in; he hadn't spoken to anyone except Turbo until now. "But once you understand what you're looking for…"

"I still don't believe it," Matrix said stubbornly, folding his arms. "Besides, Users don't just step into Systems; they live outside the Net and the only time you see one is inside Games."

"And even then," AndrAIa said, "it's only an avatar that the User controls from the outside."

At this point, Mouse held up a hand. "Now just hold on, everybody," she said, having recovered from her own shock. She placed a hand on her hip and narrowed her eyes at the Prime Guardian. "Look, why don't you explain what you're talkin' about?"

"Users have been appearing all over the Net, in almost random locations," Turbo explained. "We don't know how this is happening or where they came from, but so far nearly two dozen Users have been rounded up and taken to the Supercomputer for the time-being." The Prime Guardian nodded at his assistant.

Data held up the device in his hand, the one that looked like an organizer. "We've managed to create a scanner that can tell Users apart from other Sprites," he explained. "We have our people constantly scanning the Net for the presence of Users in other Systems."

"So you came here because you detected a User in Mainframe?" Dot said, astonished.

"That's right," Turbo nodded. "But we can't tell who it is or where exactly the User is within the System once we find one. That's why I came here personally with Data." He indicated Mouse with his hand. "And it seems we have found her."

"Now hold on just a millisecond," Mouse said, holding up her hands in disbelief. "I may be many things, but I am not a User."

Data looked at her with a critical eye. "I'm afraid the scans state evidence to the contrary," he said.

"Mouse…" Turbo took a step toward her, extending his arm. "I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to come with us."

"Now wait just a nano!" Bob positioned himself beside Mouse, just a little bit in front of her, as he faced Turbo. He didn't quite stand between them, but almost. The two Guardians locked eyes, as only two good friends with a deep, mutual respect for one-another could.

"Bob," Turbo said in a kinder tone, "we need to take Mouse in for questioning."

"Then ask your questions here," Bob insisted. "You'll tell him anything he wants to know, right Mouse?" He cast the Hacker a glance.

"I've already told ya what I can, Sugar," Mouse said with a shrug. "I'm not a User. I don't recollect ever being one, or having any life outside the Net."

A thoughtful frown graced Turbo's lips. "Hmm." He stroked his chin. "Do you remember growing up in a System?" he finally asked. "If so, which System? Who are your parents?"

Mouse blinked a few times as her processor drew a blank. In truth, that was something she had not considered for a long, long time. She had always had purpose, had skill, and she often found things to do.

"I…" She touched her temple warily. She tried very hard to remember something, anything from the time when she was younger. Nothing came to her. The more she concentrated, the more it made her head hurt.

"Mouse?" Ray placed a hand on her shoulder. "You alright, love?"

"Yeah, I think so," Mouse replied. "I just don't remember anything from when I was a kid." She frowned. "I don't remember growing up in a System, either."

"I'm sorry, Bob," Turbo said. He placed a hand on Bob's shoulder, giving him a light nudge in the hopes he would move aside. "I've got to take her in."

"Turbo, I can't just let you take her," Bob insisted stubbornly, brushing Turbo's hand aside. "She's lived here for a long time and she helped save this System many times. I'll vouch for her; she's not a threat to anyone." Bob narrowed his eyes.

"I'm taking her to the Supercomputer for her protection as well as everyone else's safety," Turbo said firmly. "Bob, you have no idea what's happening out there. Some Systems are in a complete panic where Users have turned up. In some places, it's so bad that riots are breaking out; people are getting hurt, and it's all we can do to maintain order. Extra Guardians have been sent to several Systems to help Command Dot Coms regain control."

"Is it really that bad?" Dot asked, a look of apprehension filling her eyes as she imagined the chaos that was described to her.

"'Fraid so," Turbo sighed. "How long do you think it'll be until word gets around Mainframe, and your population begins to panic?"

"Then we will make sure this information stays in this room," Phong spoke up as he came forward. He approached Mouse, Bob and Turbo, extending his neck a bit to look up at the Prime Guardian. "Our technology may not be as advanced as the Supercomputer," the old program said, "but perhaps it will help if we can perform our own scan."

"Well…" Data lifted his hand-held device. "I have the information from every other Scan stored in here. We can compare it to that of other Sprites and show you the difference."

That was agreeable to everyone. A few milliseconds later, all of them had crowded into the infirmary where Mouse sat down on the edge of the medical bed where the scanner was located.

"I've always hated going to the doctor…" Mouse commented as she lay back and allowed the scan to pass through her.

Data inserted a data chip into a terminal. A screen on the wall came to life. "Alright," the young Guardian said, drawing everyone's attention to the readouts, "this is the scan of one of the first Users we scanned. Now, let's compare it to Mouse's scan."

The readouts were identical.

Data was nothing if not thorough. "Now," he went on, "let us compare these readings to other kinds of Sprites." He brought up the scans he had taken of Dot, Bob and Ray Tracer. The standard Sprite, the Guardian and the Web Surfer each had a different kind of coding… yet it did not match Mouse's in any capacity.

It seemed that Users had a unique kind of coding that was both compressed and complex. Much of the time it was unnoticeable to normal scanners, especially since the Users appeared perfectly "natural" in their Sprite-forms, and fully functional. No one paid them a second glance as anything other than a Sprite.

"You see here?" Data indicated a trail of coding within Mouse's readout. "This is what confuses us, and it's what helps us identify Users. It's as if a large portion of the User's compilation exists in a super-condensed state. Considering high tightly this is compressed…" He shook his head, as if in wonder. "There is so much here inside of her… whatever format Users exist in outside the Net, it's far greater-or at least, far more different-than anything that any of us have ever seen. If she existed in the Net without that compression, it might cause a complete System overload."

"So… Mouse really is a User," Bob breathed, eyeing the female Sprite with a mixture of awe and… something else. Horror? Fear?

"Or she is something else entirely," Phong mused thoughtfully. "I have seen Mouse's handiwork many times. Her encryptions and hacking methods are a true masterpiece, a work of art, but-"

Mouse hopped off of the bed and took a step forward. "Not that I don't appreciate the fine flattery and compliments," she said, "but I'd prefer it if everyone stops speaking as if I'm not in the room."

"Well, Mouse," Dot turned her full attention to the other woman, "what do you think of all this?"

"Can you remember anything about where you came from?" AndrAIa put in.

Mouse shook her head and frowned at the floor. "I honestly have no idea," she answered. "This… doesn't make any sense." She looked up at the readouts again, pursing her lips as she studied the readout. "I suppose… I've always felt like there's something different about me, but I never imagined… I mean, there are so many different kinds of people throughout the Net."

"Hey, it's okay," Bob told her. "We'll figure this out."

"Maybe we can help you remember somehow," Dot said.

Mouse sighed. She truly wasn't sure what to make of all this. It intrigued her and it fueled the flames of her natural curiosity, but… who was she, really? Where did she really come from? Was she somehow really a… a User?

0o0o0o0o0  
In the deep recesses of the Net floated a blue-skinned Virus.

This Virus had six tentacles that grew from his back while having a pair of arms, hands, legs and feet that looked like most other sprites. He wore light armor on his body and limbs that were a blood red color. He was bald, though what would draw attention to his face was the evil sneer present on his face and his glowing yellow eyes. He had no pupils, just glowing yellow orbs that radiated evil intent.

He laughed cruelly as he rubbed his hands together while his tentacles flared behind him.

"Foolish Users. Continue to play your little games... Soon the Ultimate Hunter will come for you all." The Virus, Orion, frowned a little as a thought came to him.

"Though that fool of a creator nearly deleted me. If it weren't for that Cron Virus, I may not have been able to continue the hunt..." He shrugged the thought away as his evil sneer returned.

"Enough reminiscing, we must track down our latest prey." With a wave of his hands, he created power spheres which showed all the current games in progress.

He cackled as the sounds of yelling and screams of fear emerged from the spheres as his blue tentacles plucked at the air before him.  
Orion raised a non-existent brow in surprise and amusement.

"You've had an upgrade since the last time, haven't you? Well Bradley, you've made my function much easier. What better way to pull you foolish Users into the Net when you are already half-way there? With this, I don't need to use as much of my energy and I can hunt twice as many as before!" He cried with evil laughter lacing his voice as he threw his head back in jubilation.

His menacing laughter could be heard in many of the nearby systems as their populace all shuddered at the sound, hoping that the Virus wasn't in their system.


End file.
